Scars - Part 1 and 2

Part 1

She felt a cold blade against her neck and the next moment she found herself falling down the skyscraper into the maddening traffic below.

Thud

Trisha woke up with a jolt as beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. From past few days she was having the same dream every night. And every time, she would wake up scared only to find herself alive and in the safe confines of her flat, her home for the past 6 years.

She took out her mobile and checked the time. It was 2 in the morning. 

She collected her thoughts and went to kitchen; she poured herself a glass of cold water and went to the balcony for some fresh air.

“I need to take a break. It’s been so long I took a proper holiday! It’s enough I am going to take a break from everything specially these nightmares”, she thought to herself.

She closed the balcony door and moved back to her room to catch up on the remaining sleep but she failed to notice the shadow in her room which retreated back into the dark. 

Part 2

Trisha was a Psychiatrist at one of the top hospitals in the country and was one among the best in the hospital. She had everything ticked off from her wishlist, she had a nice home in one of the posh areas of the city, earned double of what her fellow doctors were earning and had a nice set of parents who supported her all through everything.

Little did she know about the danger lurking around the corner which was coming closer with every passing second.

Next day the news channels were abuzz with the new scoop coming in. 

“Renowned psychiatrist Dr. Trisha Kashyap found dead”

“City of Murders: Another promising life lost”

“Dr. Trisha Kashyap Murder Case: Are our women safe?”

Officer Omar and Abhishek reached the crime scene. 

"Sir, it looks like killer was known to the victim, there was no sign of forced entry and no sign of struggle as well"

Omar looked around the room and scrutinized the crime scene to the very detail. He saw the security guard standing at the corner. His gaze met Omar's and he walked towards him as he saw his gesture.

"What's your name?"

"Sir, Madhur"

“Since when are you working here?”

“Sir, 4 years”

"Did you see anyone coming or going yesterday night or anything suspicious?"

"No sir, no one came here yesterday but..."

"But, what?"

"Sir, today I saw a man standing outside the apartment early morning. It is the first time I saw him."

"Didn't you ask him?"

"I did, but he left in haste without saying anything"

"Do you remember his face clearly? Can you help our sketch artist with his details?"

"Yes sir, I remember it."

Omar nodded and asked Abhishek to call the sketch artist. 

"He will reach within 45 minutes", Abhishek informed Omar

"Great"

Meanwhile both the officers checked the flat and interrogated the neighbors. Abhishek also checked with the building’s Secretary about security guard’s credentials but it was all clean. He used to work in the building opposite to the apartment and was sincere at his job.

Meanwhile Omar found a ring on the floor; he picked it up and saw the initials AK engraved on it. He quickly put it in the evidence box to investigate further. 

Abhishek saw Omar looking towards the window. Working with him since 5 years, he knew exactly what Omar was thinking. 

"Omar, I don't think the killer came from the window. This is the 12th floor, right in the middle of 24 floors of this building and its impossible to climb up from the ground or down from terrace", Abhishek said

"I think you are right. We need to meet victim's friends and colleagues to reach the killer"

At Police HQ, the officers went into tizzy. This new murder had added to the mounting pressure.

“I don’t care how you do it but I want the murderer caught within 48 hours”, the commissioner ordered Officer Omar

“Sir, we are working on it closely and are investigating everyone related to the doctor. Also, one of our officers is on the way to meet her parents and check if she had any enemies and to know more about her friend circle. We are also interrogating the security guard and the sketch artist is on his way. By end of the day, we will have a face to this killer”, Officer Omar informed.

“All that’s fine but make sure this murder case is solved as soon as possible, the people are already raising questions on their safety and this case has added fuel to the fire. There’s a lot of pressure from media as well as they are following this case closely, our one mistake can ruin things.”

“Yes sir”

Back in his cabin, Officer Omar was in a deep thought. Though he had assured Commissioner he will solve the case, he had no idea how to proceed. He had reached a dead end in this investigation.

According to Dr. Trisha’s parents, she didn’t have any enmity with anyone. She was a kind hearted girl who could never do any wrong to anyone. Even her friends and coworkers agreed with them. 

“If it’s not personal and professional, then what else could be the reason”, Officer Omar thought to himself.

The ring which Omar found at the crime scene did not belong to Trisha which meant it was killer's ring. This was a great lead as those kind of rings very few people use to make. He had immediately asked one of his officers to find the jeweler who sold this ring in the hope to find a clue related to killer.

“Omar”

He was jolted back to reality as Officer Abhishek came in with a bundle of files. Officer Abhishek was not only assisting him on this murder case which had entire city glued to the news channels but was also one of his close friends.

“Yes Abhishek, go on”

“According to the post mortem report, death was due to loss of blood and it happened between 2 am to 5 am. There was a deep cut on her neck which apparently resulted in her death. Apart from that killer had also slashed both her wrists to make sure she is dead.”

“And there’s one more interesting thing”

Abhishek stopped for a moment, looked at Omar and continued again.

“Do you remember Rekha Mishra murder case?”

“Yes of course, we had to close the case as her killer was never found. Even after 4 years we are clueless about that case. But why do you bring that up now?”

“Because I think we have found the murderer”

“How is that possi…”, Omar stopped midway as he realised the similarity of both the murders. 

Dr. Rekha was a surgeon at the same hospital where Dr. Trisha worked and apparently both of them were good friends from their school days.

And coincidence being, both of them were murdered in the same manner on the same date, 29-April only 4 years apart.

To be continued...